PureCycle Technologies Inc. is lining up a supply of used polypropylene as the company works to create the company's first solvent-based recycling facility in Europe.
The Orlando, Fla.-based chemical recycler struck a deal with Landbell Group for used PP resin to supply a planned facility in Antwerp, Belgium. The project has been announced but construction has not started.
If the Belgian location is built, the facility will join PureCycle's existing operation in Ironton, Ohio, which has been ramping up production in recent months.
PureCycle also has been working to create another location in Augusta, Ga., for several years and already has ordered some equipment for that site. Some ground work also has taken place in Augusta, but actual construction has not started.
PureCycle has acquired land in an area known as the NextGen District at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges to construct a PP recycling site that uses technology licensed from consumer products company Procter & Gamble Co. to clean used resin to create virgin-like quality recycled plastic. The district is working to attract companies with a circular economy focus.
PureCycle currently is working with a local consultant to submit a permit application, the company said March 31.
Landbell is described as a "a global operator of more than 40 producer responsibility organizations (PROs) and a leading provider of closed-loop recycling solutions." PROs oversee implementation of extended producer responsibility programs that require makers of products to pay for proper end-of-life recycling.
"Landbell Group will use its expertise in the collection, sorting and processing of plastics in several European countries. Landbell will supply the PP waste from its household collections as feedstock for PureCycle's first European PP recycling plant in Antwerp, Belgium, with an expected annual capacity of 59,000 metric tons (65,000 U.S. tons) once constructed and operating," PureCycle said in a statement. That equates to about 130 million pounds per year.